Eternity
by scifiromance
Summary: Chakotay is flung five years in the future to 2382, what will he discover?   This is a future unrelated to the one from Endgame, but if you don't like C7 don't read this!
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: I know I already have two other C7 stories going, but this idea just won't leave me alone!**

Why am I doing this? It's not like she expects anything. Chakotay was trying to rationalise his actions as he made his way to Cargo Bay 2. He didn't think she had relished the encounter with the Ventu but after she had thrown him a curveball siding with him about the shield he just didn't know what to make of her anymore. He reached the doors and released a shaky breath. He_ could_ just go back to his quarters, no one would blame him. Face it, said another voice in his brain, you _want_ to talk to her, she's all you've been thinking of ever since you got back. This thought disturbed him but at the same time he couldn't deny its truthfulness.

Here goes nothing; he thought straightening his shoulders and stepping inside. She was standing with her head bent over the console, working. As the gold hair caught the light and she looked up, he couldn't help thinking that he preferred her hair down. "Commander?" she asked with her trademark raised brow.

It took Chakotay embarrassingly long to shake off the sudden strong undeniable attraction he felt and come up with something to say. "That's a beautiful blanket."

She looked at him quizzically. "You can have it if you'd like, I have no use for it."

He heard the regret in her tone and knew that he had to give her a reason to keep it. "If the environmental systems ever go down you might get cold."

This was met by silence and if he didn't know her better, a shy glance to the floor. He felt the need to speak. "I…"

At the exact same time Seven also began. "I…"

Chakotay swallowed. That was awkward. "Go on…"

She blushed deeply and averted her eyes. "No, please continue."

He didn't think he'd ever seen her blush before and he found it endearing. "I just wanted to apologise for making you miss your conference…"

If it was possible she looked even more uncomfortable. "Actually…I wanted to thank you for that."

Chakotay was stunned to say the least. "What? I thought you were angry."

"I…I was, but after spending time there I realised you were right. Temporal Mechanics can be studied any time, the Ventu on the other hand…"

He nodded in complete agreement, inexplicably pleased with himself, but saw her shift away from him and bite her lip slightly. "Something else is bothering you?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

She looked up at him and saw nothing in his face expect gentle concern. "It is the Ventu, I am afraid for their wellbeing."

He smiled softly. "They know how to look after themselves."

"That is not what I mean. The Ledosian expedition had time to study my deflector modifications; in time they may be able to lower the shield themselves."

He couldn't deny such a painfully logical statement, although he wanted to soothe her. "It's possible."

"If I had never made those modifications…" she started, self hatred coming off her in waves.

He grasped her arm tightly, desperate to get those thoughts from her head. "We would still be stuck there!" He loosened his grip, sensing he had become inappropriately passionate. "I for one am happy to be back on Voyager."

She allowed her herself to glance down at her arm before meeting his eyes. "As am I." she replied softly. He knew he should go, though in his heart he didn't really want to. He gave her a nod of his head in parting and left. As the doors closed behind him, he let out a shuddering sigh. What was all that about?

He made his way back to his quarters but just as he got to the door everything around him seemed to ripple and he felt his stomach flip over and his legs go weak, having to lean on the doorway. What the hell was that? He looked around but the silent hallway looked exactly the same. I've gone too long without sleep, he reasoned, stepping inside.

What he saw before him shocked him. Seven, her hair loose and wearing a plain dress, turned to face him. "Yes…" she started but froze when she saw him, all the colour draining from her face.

Chakotay frowned at her in confusion, how could she be in here when he'd left her in the Cargo Bay looking entirely different just a few minutes before? How had she even managed to get in here? "Seven? What are you doing?"

Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out, she backed away from him, her legs colliding with the coffee table before she sank into the nearest chair and put a hand up to her temple, the other clenched into a white knuckled fist. His eyes scanned the room, he could see his belongings but they were arranged differently. He cautiously approached Seven. "What's wrong?" She totally ignored him, her huge eyes staring blankly at the opposite wall. "Hey!" He reached out and touched her shoulder. She uttered a choked gasp, shuddering at the touch. Turning her head to face him, she looked at him so intensely that it both unsettled and mesmerised him. Finally her eyes broke contact and her hand flew to her comm. badge. "Doctor…medical emergency…" Her voice was unnaturally weak and Chakotay felt even more confused.

The Doctor responded immediately, beaming himself in. He looked at Seven in concern. "Seven what…" He paused in shock when he saw Chakotay. "_Chakotay_?"

Seven glanced up at the Doctor and Chakotay was deeply disturbed to see tears in her eyes and hear them in her voice. "You…you…can see him too?"

"Why shouldn't he be able to see me Seven?" shouted Chakotay in frustration.

"Because you're dead." Said the Doctor quietly.

"_What_? Of course I'm not!"

"Call the Captain and tell him to meet us in Sickbay." The Doctor told Seven.

"Him? What happened to Kathryn?"

"Captain Janeway died three years ago, you died over a year ago. Tuvok's the Captain now."

"No…that's impossible…"

Let's just go to Sickbay." Said the Doctor impatiently. "I'm sure I can do something which can tell us what's going on."

To his surprise Seven followed them to Sickbay and the Doctor attended to her before turning to him. Tuvok, in a captain's uniform, looked him up and down as the Doctor scanned him. "Is there any logical explanation for this Doctor?" he asked.

"Yes…he's from the past. Chakotay what's the date where you're from?"

"Stardate 7652.6…2nd of May 2377."

"Well, here it's 2nd of May 2382."

"Same day, five years ahead…" Chakotay murmured in shock. "Are Kathryn and I both really dead?"

"Yes." Stated Seven, the first word she'd spoken directly to him.

"I'm sorry I startled you Seven." He replied softly. "Do you have any idea how to get me back?"

"Not presently." She wrung her hands in her lap and Chakotay spotted a diamond ring and gold wedding band on her human hand.

"You're married?" he gasped In shock, before realising how bad that sounded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that…"

"Widowed." She pushed herself off the biobed. "Excuse me." She said curtly before leaving hurriedly.

Chakotay felt guilt and a strong desire to follow her enter his soul but Tuvok held him back. "Leave her alone."

Chakotay almost retorted but the serious look on Tuvok's face silenced him. He spent the rest of the day with the senior officers, B'Elanna was still head of Engineering, Tom had taken his place as First Officer and Harry was now a Lieutenant. When it came to speaking of time travel, an older version of Icheb explained it to him; Seven was nowhere to be found. "Isn't there something you can do?" he asked them all in exasperation.

"We are considering all options." Said Icheb coolly.

"Go and rest Chakotay." Said Tom gently."Don't worry, we'll get you back."

Chakotay made his way back his quarters, well the quarters that had formerly been his and crashed into Seven. "I'm sorry…"

"I am undamaged." She replied stiffly.

Suddenly a child's voice pierced the air around them. "Mama!" A small boy around the age of two or three ran up behind Seven and clutched her skirt. "Mama, Naomi told me to get you because Isabel can't find her rabbit."

Chakotay stared at them both, This can't be, Seven can't have children. He looked at the boy more closely; he did look a bit like Seven although his hair was a light brown and his eyes were dark. Seven seemed to read his mind and nodded in silent confirmation. He then knelt down to be closer in height to the little boy. "Who's Isabel?"

"My baby sister." He looked up at his mother. "Mama, who's that?"

Chakotay saw Seven flinch almost imperceptivity and answered for her. "I'm Chakotay. What's your name?"

"Luke." He replied shyly.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Luke."

Seven found her voice again. "Luke, we must go and see your sister." She turned from Chakotay without a word, but Luke did not follow her. "Come with me please, Luke." She said quietly. Luke stared at Chakotay for a few more seconds before obediently trotting after his mother.

Chakotay followed them with his eyes until they were out of sight. "Well, I'll be damned." He muttered, shaking his head in wonderment as he walked into his quarters. The room had been rearranged back to what it had been five years ago; someone must have been working hard to correct it. He left the sitting room and entered the bedroom, as he sat down on the bed he glimpsed something peeking behind the wardrobe, curious he picked it up. It was a pale pink rabbit plush toy. A strange feeling like déjà vu crept up his back and he immediately put it down and lay on the bed not even trying to process what he was experiencing.

**A/n: I hope its okay so far, I know I use that scene from Natural Law a lot but I had to start it somehow. Please review since this is a new story!**


	2. Chapter 2

Seven's head was throbbing as she walked away from Chakotay; it was becoming even harder to keep her emotions in check, especially after he had interacted with Luke. She glanced anxiously down at her son; he had recently developed the habit of running away from her but at the moment he was close in at her side. She felt relief surge through her as they entered the comparative safety of Naomi's quarters but that relief was destined to be short lived as Isabel's distinctive crying reached her ears. Her sixteen month old daughter was sitting in the middle of the floor bawling her eyes out.

Seven knelt down beside her, "What happened, baby?" she asked her in concern.

Isabel turned her bright blue eyes up to her mother, tears dripping off her thick black lashes. "Mama…bunny…bunny…" she sobbed inconsolably.

Naomi appeared round the corner. "I'm sorry Seven; I couldn't find it in the things you brought over…"

"Don't worry I'll find it somewhere, she's just tired…" She turned back to her daughter."…aren't you?" Seven pushed Isabel's jet black hair out of her face and kissed her forehead before picking her up and rising off the floor. "Thank you for watching them Naomi, say thank you to Naomi Luke."

Luke grinned up at Naomi. "Thank you…you're fun."

Naomi beamed at him in pleasure. "Thank you! Oh Seven, Commander Paris told me to tell you that Isabel's cot and Luke's bed have been moved to his quarters."

"What? I thought everything was being moved to Cargo Bay 2?"

"That's what he told me to tell you." Said Naomi apologetically.

Seven sighed. "It's fine. I will attend to it." She shifted Isabel onto her other hip and looked down at Luke. "Come on, my love." The little family left and began to walk to Tom and B'Elanna's quarters. When Seven rang the bell B'Elanna answered almost immediately. "B'Elanna you don't have to keep their things, they can go in the cargo bay…"

"Seven! They can stay here; you know they're Miral's favourite playmates. I have everything all set out for them."

"But…"

"They're staying here! Look, hopefully this situation will only last one night…" B'Elanna saw Seven wince at her words and quickly changed the subject. "Come in." She led Seven to a small room where Luke's bed and Isabel's cot had been made up. "I'll leave you to put them down to sleep." Seven nodded to her and she left.

As soon as Seven set Isabel down on the floor to fish out pyjamas for her and her brother, she began to cry again. Feeling her patience begin to wear thin, Seven turned to her in exasperation. "What's wrong Isabel?"

"Bunny…bunny…" wailed Isabel insistently.

"It's lost." Luke told her solemnly. This predictably just made Isabel cry louder.

Seven turned to Luke, "Just get into your nightclothes Luke." All this crying was going beyond what she could tolerate. "I can't find it just now Isabel!" Even after almost three years as a mother she was still unable to understand a child's capacity to become attached to an inanimate object.

"No…" Isabel whimpered. Seven realised then that true to form Isabel wasn't going to sleep without her pink cuddly rabbit she had had since she was a day old. She had a bad feeling about where it was but what was she supposed to do? Go up to Chakotay and ask outright to search his quarters? Excuse me, I know you think these are your quarters but can I search what is normally our children's room for our daughter's toy? She won't go to sleep without it. Even the thought of it made her eyes burn with long suppressed tears.

Isabel suddenly stopped crying, gazing at the mother intently. "Cwy? Mama sad?"

Luke began to speak; unsettled by his mother's strange behaviour, but she silenced him with a look and wiped the single tear from her cheek in agitation. Just then the doors slid open to reveal Miral in pyjamas, holding out a cuddly lamb to Isabel. "Seven, Isabel can have Shawn for one night because Daddy says I'm a big girl now and don't need him with me _every _night."

Seven smiled at the little girl as she gave the toy to Isabel. "That's very kind of you Miral, Isabel say thank you to Miral."

"Tank you…" she screwed up her face as she struggled with the name. "…Miwal."

"Miral!" shouted B'Elanna, and the little girl disappeared again, the doors closing behind her.

Seven allowed herself a sigh of relief as Isabel hugged "Shawn the sheep" close into her. Luke meanwhile had not let go of his mother's distress and decided to ask her. "Mama that bad man is making you sad…"

"Don't you _dare_ say that! He's not bad!" she snapped at him, an audible sob breaking through her defences.

Luke's face immediately crumpled and tears filled his eyes. Mama _never_ snapped at him. Guilt rapidly replaced anger as Seven recovered from her loss of control and saw her distraught son before her. "I'm sorry, baby…come here…" Luke looked at her cautiously before seeing her pained expression and throwing himself into her arms, where he buried his head in her lap and continued to sniffle despondently. Seven stroked his face and bravely swallowed her own sobs before bending her head over his. "Luke, I love you and Isabel more than anything else in existence…" she murmured in his ear.

He looked up at her, patting her arm in an attempt to be comforting. "Mama, don't be sad."

"I'm…I'm…not sad baby…"

He looked at her sceptically in way which in any other circumstance would have been funny for its resemblance to his mother. "Promise Mama!" he said stubbornly.

She ran an affectionate hand through his hair, he certainly hadn't inherited his perceptiveness from her anyway. "I…promise." She told him gently. "I'm just tired, like the two of you are."

Isabel now spoke up. "Seepy."

Seven glanced at her yawning younger child. "You're sleepy? It's time for bed then, isn't it?"

"Yesh." She replied, her eyelids drooping.

"No! Mama, I don't want to sleep!" whined Luke.

"When two year olds start to whine, it's bedtime." Seven told him.

"I'm not two! I'm almost three!" he retorted petulantly.

"Yes, yes, almost three." Said Seven patiently as she lowered Isabel into her cot, she had had this argument with him ever since Isabel's first birthday on New Years Day.

As she tucked him in, he asked hopefully, "Mama, how many sleeps until I'm three?"

"Twenty six days, my love." She kissed him and allowed him to kiss her back. "Sleep well, my darlings." She told them as she switched the light off.

She was confronted with B'Elanna as soon as she stepped out of the room. "You're going to have to tell him Seven."

"_Why_?" Seven snapped defensively, feeling her eyes itch with tears again.

"_Why_? Seven, you were his wife for almost _four_ years! You have two kids with him for God's sake!"

"Their father is dead! That man is from the past…they don't even know him!" Grief choked her for several seconds before she continued. "He will go back and all of this will be irrelevant…"

"That's why you have to tell him! To make sure the good things still happen!"

"_No_! I will not manipulate him in that manner!"

"He would understand Seven…"

Seven looked at her pleadingly, looking almost insane with grief. "Don't make this any harder…there's no reason for him to know…"

B'Elanna felt herself give in. "Alright, alright! We won't say anything! I'll tell the crew…"

Seven felt herself exhale, a huge weight coming off of her shoulders. She left without another word and ran blindly to Cargo Bay 2, where she leaned heavily against a wall, her sides heaving and head throbbing as she ached to cry. Her eyes caught the two photographs sitting on the nearest container. Her eyes were so blurred with tears she could barely make them out but she knew them by heart. On the left was their wedding photograph…when had she last smiled like that? She reached out for the photo to the right, peering at it painfully. It had been taken the day Isabel had turned three weeks old, the day both mother and daughter were released from Sickbay, she herself was lying on the biobed with a nineteen month old Luke on her lap. Chakotay sat at the foot for the bed cradling a tiny Isabel, but he was smiling up towards his wife and son. She remembered how much Chakotay had had to plead with her to smile, she had been exhausted and hated getting her photograph taken at the best of times. She had smiled when she had seen him with Isabel though and the Doctor had taken the photo at that instant. She was glad now that he had, for that was the last photograph she had of Chakotay, he had died just two days after that.

Her grip tightened on the photo as she finally lost the battle against her tears and sank to the floor, her last sentient thought before she burst into hysterical grief wracked sobs was that she had broken her promise to Luke.

**A/n: I got reviews for the first chapter, please review again! I hope I made Luke and Isabel cute rather than annoying. How well did I write Seven's reaction? I'll update again soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

0555 hours. Seven rubbed her tired red rimmed eyes and pulled herself up from her crouching position on the cargo bay floor, her legs sagging in complaint as her veins struggled to carry blood back down to her feet. Isabel would be waking by now, she always had been an early riser and it was her duty to go and attend to her. Thinking of her children focused her eyes on the photographs which had brought her so much pain the night before, she traced her fingers across the images and reluctantly opened the container, it wouldn't do for Chakotay to see them. She carefully placed them in and closed the lid, hiding them away as she imprisoned the painful memories in her soul for another day.

Thankfully Tom and B'Elanna had left their door unlocked so she walked straight to where she'd left the children. Isabel was sitting wide awake in her cot, when she saw her mother she grabbed the bars and pulled herself into a standing position. "Mawning Mama!" she said loudly.

"Good morning baby…" she glanced over at Luke who was still sleeping soundly and put a finger to her lips, "Shhh, Luke is still asleep."

"Shhh, seeping." Whispered Isabel, lifting her arms to be picked up.

"Yes." Seven replied, lifting her out and laying her on the floor so that she could change her, sending Isabel into a fit of inexplicable giggles.

"She's tickly Mama." Seven turned to see Luke looking at them, propping himself up in bed by his elbow.

"Ticky, ticky, ticky, ticky, ticky…" Isabel sang out, enjoying saying the new word over and over.

"Mama, can we go home? I want my cars…"

"No, we can't go home…" Seven paused, struggling to make herself heard over her daughter's singing. "Isabel, that's enough now." Isabel pouted slightly but fell silent.

"Why not? What about breakfast?" asked Luke.

Isabel perked up again. "Bwekfas?"

"We'll eat in the Mess Hall today."

"But why do we have to?" Luke persisted.

"We just do!" said Seven sharply. "Be a good boy and get dressed for me." She told him more gently.

After several minutes of preparations they were all ready to go and stepped out into the hallway. Isabel sat down on the floor. "Up! Up!" she said insistently to her mother, raising her arms.

"No…" Seven helped Isabel to stand up, but didn't carry her. "You're a big girl now, you can walk like your brother." Isabel gazed up at her mother, testing her resolve. Seeing no hope she obediently toddled after Luke.

"Seven?" Tuvok's voice echoed through her comm. badge.

"Yes Captain?"

"Come to my quarters. I must discuss the current situation with you."

"I must give my children breakfast first."

"They can come with you, I have a replicator here."

Seven was unsure of the soundness of that suggestion. "Isabel needs a high chair…"

"I will provide one. I expect you within five minutes." The comm. badge clicked off, conversation over.

Seven sighed deeply, there was no escape from the questions she knew were coming. "Luke, Isabel, turn around and come with me."

" Mama, the Mess Hall is this way." Luke informed her in a patient tone.

"I am aware of that but the Captain has invited us to his quarters."

Luke was intrigued. "Really? I've never been in his quarters before!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"No, neither have I." Seven admitted unable to completely keep the apprehension from her voice.

When they entered Tuvok's dimly lit quarters, Luke and Isabel were immediately captivated, the room was full of exotic plants. Seven expertly clipped Isabel into the waiting high chair and turned to an expectant Tuvok. "What is it you wish to discuss?" she asked him bluntly.

Tuvok was stopped by replying by seeing Luke approach a particularly large purple bush and poke it curiously. "Attend to them first."

"Of course." Seven replied with a slight blush. "Luke! Come and sit at the table!" Luke reluctantly stepped away and sat next to a tall flower in a pot with two big petals like a mouth. Seven quickly replicated plain cereal, some bread rolls and cut up a selection of fruits, laying it out before the children before sitting down herself.

"Seven, you are aware of the laws of the Temporal Prime Directive aren't you?" Tuvok said suddenly.

"Yes Captain." Seven replied blandly, she knew where this was going. Seeing Luke screw up his face in disgust, she distracted herself by warning him. "Eat your fruit." Luke sullenly put a single grape in his mouth.

"It is imperative that you tell him nothing. I know it will be difficult…" He glanced at the children, "…considering your current situation but…"

"I am well aware of the complications of time travel Captain. As for my personal circumstances they are…" She had to force the word out, "…irrelevant. It would only cause both of us…difficulty if he were to become aware of how much our relationship…developed in this timeline."

"You were not involved with him as of 2nd of May 2377?"

"No." she replied stoically.

Tuvok wisely decided to leave it at that, he could tell by the expression on her face that she was telling him the truth. "Do you have any idea how this time travel occurred?"

Seven inhaled deeply, her hands clenching involuntarily. "It could be any number of things, a temporal rift, an unstable wormhole, even alien technology…"

"Would the sensors in Astrometrics detect such things?"

"Perhaps." Said Seven in a noncommittal tone.

"Begin scans immediately. He must return to where he came from."

"Yes…he must." Murmured Seven in painful agreement.

Meanwhile, Luke, not wanting to eat his apple and seeing his mother's distraction, sneakily placed a section of apple in the soil of the large strange flower which to his shock immediately reacted clamping it's "mouth" down on the fruit and dissolving it in some sort of acid. Luke's mouth dropped open. "Mama! That plant is alive, it ate my apple!"

Seven almost spat out the water she was drinking. "Luke get away from that!" she cried in panic. She dragged him away, seized his shoulders and knelt down to his eye level, breathing hard as she attempted to calm herself. "First of all I told you to eat that fruit and second of all you are not to provoke carnivorous plants! Is that understood?"

"Yes, Mama." Said Luke quietly. "What's carneevirus?"

Seven sighed in exasperation. "It's…things that eat other things. Just don't do it okay? Say sorry to the Captain."

"Sorry Captain."

Seven gulped and leaned against a wall to recover, tapping her comm. badge, she said, "Icheb, can you watch the children today?"

"Of course I can."

"Thank you." She told him in relief.

Chakotay tossed and turned in bed, the sound of screams and crying filling his dreams. Finally he was released and sat bolt upright, covered in sweat and panting. He swung his legs out of bed and shakily walked to the replicator and made a cup of tea. He sat thinking over his situation and eventually temptation won out. "Computer, when did I die?"

"Rephrase the question please."

"When did Commander Chakotay die?"

"Captain Chakotay died on Stardate 8123.1, 24th of January 2381."

"How?"

The computer beeped in denial. "Captain Chakotay's last will and testament is filed in data bank C, file Delta 9 Alpha 8."

There was something creepy in reading your own will but it seemed to be all he was going to get. "Open it."

"Access is denied to all but the designated executors."

Chakotay began to feel exasperated. "And who are they?"

"Commander Tom Paris, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres and Seven of Nine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

All right, Tom and B'Elanna he could understand but Seven? He barely knew her, why would his future self give her control of his will? Well, I suppose she is practical and with Kathryn being dead and all maybe we became close. Guilt suddenly filled him, he hadn't thought about Kathryn and the circumstances of her death at all, hell he'd given more thought to Seven being married for God's sake. "Computer, when and how did Captain Janeway die?"

"Captain Kathryn Janeway died on Stardate 7809.8, 22nd of March 2379."

The computer's not going to tell me how we died, an idea hit him and he was ashamed that it hadn't occurred to him before. "Computer, access Captain Chakotay's personal logs, access code Alpha Gamma 14 Beta 1."

"Unable to comply."

"Why not? I gave you the code!"

"Unable to comply."

He kicked the console in frustration, had the crew locked him out of his own personal logs? They have a reason to; you're in the future remember? Said the logical voice in his head. I can find out things just by listening, he reasoned, opening the door. Quick as a flash a small child passed through his legs and into the room. "Bunny!" cried a little voice, before he saw the little figure crash it's head into his desk. An inconsolable wailing instantly filled the room between the sobs. "Mama…Mama!"

Chakotay rushed anxiously to the sound and saw a pale dark haired little girl, not much more than a year old in his estimation, sitting weeping on the floor, clutching the pale pink cuddly rabbit he'd found the night before. "Hey little one, what happened? Is that your bunny?" he asked her gently.

She lifted her head, revealing a pair of shimmering bright blue eyes and a quivering lip. "Oww…"

"Oh, I'm going to have to take you to the Doctor aren't I?" Chakotay muttered.

"Isabel! Isabel!" Icheb suddenly appeared in the doorway, "Oh, Isabel, what have you done?"

"Ikeb…" whimpered Isabel. Icheb walked up and took her in his arms, Luke walking close behind him.

Realisation dawned on Chakotay. "Wait, this is Seven's daughter?"

Icheb paused unsure of what to say to him, "Yes."

Isabel buried her head in Icheb's uniform, "Want…Mama…" she managed to say between sobs.

"Okay, I'll take you." Icheb murmured, guilt ridden that he had allowed her out of his sight.

Icheb, Isabel and Luke all left for Astrometrics and Chakotay followed them. Seven was standing over a console trying to concentrate on the scans and not having much luck when Luke ran in and wrapped his arms round her legs. "Mama, Isabel's hurted!"

"What? Where is she?" Seven exclaimed, turning from the console to see Icheb holding a weeping Isabel and Chakotay standing beside him. "Are you okay?" she asked Isabel anxiously, taking her from Icheb, "You found your bunny though, that's good isn't it?" Isabel just buried her head in her mother's neck and continued to cry, holding the toy by the neck.

"I think she hit her head off of my desk." Chakotay told her.

As soon as he said this the colour drained from her face. "Your quarters? She's not meant to go in there, I apologise…"

"No, no, it's okay. I think she was looking for her toy." He said in an attempt to reassure her which didn't seem to work. "Have you found what caused all this?"

"Nothing conclusive. I will need to update the sensors." She couldn't bear to look directly in his face and turned away.

Sensing that he was being dismissed, Chakotay tried to draw her back out. "She's your spitting image Seven, well except for the hair."

"Yes."

God, how could the same woman be so sweet with her children and so monosyllabic with him? The many complexities of Seven of Nine never ceased to amaze him.

Isabel began to cry again and Seven began to feel concerned, pressing her comm. badge she called the Doctor. "Doctor, Isabel has damaged herself."

"What did she do?"

"She walked into a desk." Chakotay informed him.

"Bring her to Sickbay and I'll have a look, you come too Chakotay, I need to run more tests on you."

"Luke, you stay here with Icheb. Icheb, please run more scans." Icheb nodded to her and she left with Isabel, Chakotay following behind.

"She's fine, not even a concussion. I'd just let her sleep it off." The Doctor patted Isabel on the head. Glancing nervously at the silent figures of Seven and Chakotay, he spoke again. "Seven, may I speak to you in my office for a moment?" He guided her into his office and as soon as they were out of Chakotay's earshot said, "Seven, what are you doing? I thought we agreed you were going to avoid him…"

"I cannot avoid him! I'm the one who's supposed to get him back…"

"Let Icheb do it, I know you want to see him but it's not going to do you any good…"

"You think I am _enjoying_ this?" Seven hissed angrily.

"On some level, yes, at least stop exposing the children to him…"

"I am not exposing them!" she snapped, turning to leave. The Doctor held her back. "Let me go!"

"No! You need to hear this!"

"Leave me _alone_ for once!" she cried, almost bolting from the office, before catching herself and picking up Isabel. Chakotay saw unadulterated pain on her face but before he could question or comfort her she muttered a quick "Excuse me" and left.

Chakotay turned to an exasperated Doctor angrily. "What happened to Isabel wasn't her fault, you shouldn't chastise her as much."

"It was nothing to do with that!" the Doctor told him sharply, beginning the scan. "You're out of temporal sync." He informed him but was met by silence. "Chakotay? Are you listening to me?"

"Who was Seven's husband Doctor?"

Obviously not listening then. The Doctor quickly formulated an answer. "A good man, she adored him." Chakotay expression became unreadable but the meaning sank in with the Doctor. My God, he's jealous! Jealous of himself! Not that he knows that. This is going to complicate matters.

**A/n: Please review! How am I doing so far?**


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor's suspicions only deepened with every second he spent in Chakotay's company. The man he had always known for his attentiveness was now barely listening to him and sat frowning at the door Seven had used. Maybe I'm thinking too much, I_ know_ they weren't involved then, Seven still had her emotion suppressing implant at that point. Turning to Chakotay he tried valiantly to keep his anxiety from his expression, "You're free to go, there's nothing I can do for you." Chakotay blinked in surprise as if he had forgotten where he was and left Sickbay with barely a nod of acknowledgement to the Doctor. The worrying final diagnosis came quickly to the Doctor's mind and he knew he had to do something. Clicking hurriedly on his comm. badge he called Tom. "Tom I think you, me B'Elanna and…" He wondered whether to inform Tuvok of his suspicions but decided against it. "…Harry need to have a conversation."

"About what?"

"What do you think? The Chakotay situation."

Tom evidently caught his drift. "Right, ok. We'll meet in Harry's quarters in ten minutes; Seven's kids are still staying in mine. Are you going to tell me what's happened?"

"Not over the comm. line."

"See you there."

Ten minutes later the four of them had congregated in Harry's quarters. "What's the new development Doc?" asked Harry, breaking the ice as the Doctor paced anxiously.

"We have a new problem with Chakotay."

"He's been the problem all along…wait did Seven tell him?" asked Tom urgently.

"No, that's not it…" The Doctor braced himself for their reaction with an agitated sigh. "I have reason to believe he's jealous of Seven's late husband."

"_Jealous_? Of _himself_?" exclaimed Harry incredulously.

"I always thought they got up to something while they were stranded on that planet together…" muttered Tom.

"It's neither the time nor the place for that sort of talk!" snapped the Doctor.

"We're not saying it is Doctor but what other explanation do we have for jealousy? On the other hand he could have discovered something…" Harry responded.

"Would it be such a bad thing for him to know?" B'Elanna quietly spoke up.

"What do you mean? What about the Temporal Prime Directive?" Harry asked.

B'Elanna scoffed, "As if any of us have ever given a damn about that, Chakotay included."

"Let me get this straight you _want_ him to know about Seven?" Tom asked his wife in confusion.

"Yes! All I know is that she made him happy, more than anyone else…she told me she didn't want to manipulate him…what else can you call that but selfless love?" B'Elanna was surprised at the strength of her own reaction but she remembered how much pleasure her friend had taken in his wife and children and it just didn't seem right to deny that.

"None of us are saying that Seven didn't love him or he her, we all know how it was, but this timeline isn't so great, Chakotay, Captain Janeway and many others have died in the last five years, personally I'd like that to change." Harry made his position clear.

"I know…so we tell him everything and send him back?" Tom pondered.

"Ourselves alone cannot make that decision…what does Seven think Doctor?" said Harry seriously.

"I have no idea, she's shut me out completely…" he replied, deeply dissatisfied.

"We'll just let it run its course, not interfere." Tom suggested quietly.

No one could refute that, so they left having determined that they should ignore the situation but not tell Tuvok about their conversation. As they left they were all dissatisfied in their own way but B'Elanna especially and Tom picked up on this as they walked home. "You've really changed your tune on Seven; I never thought you liked her."

"I didn't." B'Elanna admitted truthfully, "But Chakotay made her better…as you have me…I admire her more than like her I suppose…I don't know how I would've coped if I'd lost you like that…"

Tom turned to her, "I know you would cope…let's just pray to God you never have to." B'Elanna nodded thoughtfully in agreement.

Meanwhile Chakotay, against his better judgement perhaps, sought out Seven, unable to get her grief stricken face out of his mind. He found her in her cargo bay, mercifully alone.

Seven stood bent over the container, fighting her grief anger and fear, once again clutching the photograph. "Seven?" The sound of his voice made her jump, the gentle concern in it tearing at her soul.

"Chakotay!" she exclaimed in an unnaturally high pitched voice, he caught a glimpse of a photographic pad as she hid it from him but decided not to comment. "Can I do something for you…" She tried to call him Commander but couldn't bring herself to do it.

He averted his eyes and shifted his feet nervously. "Not really…I just…" Oh God, why am I here? Why do I feel so drawn to her, not only here but in my own timeline? His tone affected Seven and she automatically looked into his face, what he saw in hers made his heart twist and he reached out to her. "Have you been crying?" he asked her forcefully, unable to explain to himself why her glassy tear filled eyes affected him so much.

"No!" She read in his face that he didn't believe her. "It… is a very… stressful …time for me…"

"I know…you shouldn't let the Doctor add to that…"

Seven's lips twisted into a sad smile. "I know…you've told me that before." Why did I tell him that? It's too intimate.

"I did? Well, start to listen then!" He said trying to lighten the mood and failing dismally as she stood, head down and silent

Why do I have to love such a kind man when all I can do is reject it while longing to fall into his arms and cry? This bitter thought helped a single tear break through her defences and slide down her cheek without her fully realising.

Chakotay saw the tear and a lump formed simultaneously in his throat. "Seven…you know your husband and Captain Janeway would be very proud of you don't you?"

Seven bit her lip, imagining how Captain Janeway would react to this situation, not well. Chakotay, _her _Chakotay, would be so hurt… "Perhaps." She finally managed to reply, staring at the floor.

Chakotay wanted to say more, wanted her to reach out to him, but knew it would never happen. Stuck for words to say but unwilling to leave her, he said the first thing that came into his head. "You know after you were gone, the Doctor informed me I was out of temporal sync…of course I am! I've gone five years into the future…"

Seven head snapped up. "Wait! Did he say your cells were out of sync?"

Chakotay was relieved to see a flicker of the Seven he knew but was confused as to what she meant. "I don't know I can't really remember, does it matter?"

She stepped closer to him in agitation. "It may be relevant. There are many methods of time travel but only one that I know of takes the participant out of temporal cellular sync."

"What's that?"

"Temporal Anomaly 8465."

He smiled wryly at the name, it was so typically Borg. "I should have guessed." To his surprise she didn't seem to take him literally as she always had done in the past, just raising a knowing eyebrow at him.

"You should return to your quarters while I study this possibility."

"I could help you."

"No, I don't believe so." Her shields were back up, his moment of access was over. It hurt him more than he would have admitted to be shut out so unceremoniously.

"Keep me up to date." He told her, leaving without another word. He made his way back to his quarters but once there the agitation and frustration overwhelmed him. He struggled under the strain of his different emotions pulling him in opposite directions. Deciding to meditate he dug out his things from the cupboard, a surprise hitting him when he pulled out a child's toy train. What have they been using this room as, a nursery?

No matter how much he tried to relax, images and emotions bombarded him, mostly concerned with Seven. After hours of this he couldn't take it anymore and punched out wildly. "What's happened here?" he cried out in frustration. Seven's face floated in front of his eyes and he silently asked himself, What's happened to _me_? He made a rash decision, "Computer where is Seven of Nine?"

"Seven of Nine is in Commander Paris' and Lieutenant Torres' quarters."

What the hell's she doing there? He asked himself as he made his way there. When she opened the door with Luke at her side, he realised he hadn't thought about what he was going to say to her, finally coming up with, "The last place I expected to find you is here."

Seven's mind quickly formed a lie. "My quarters were damaged in an attack, Commander Paris and Lieutenant Torres have allowed us to stay here." They were both spared from saying anything else as Isabel suddenly began crying for her mother. "Excuse me." She told him quickly.

Luke remained where he was, staring at the stranger in the doorway. He didn't know why he was there, all he knew was that this man made his mother sad and that wasn't right. He had to make this man go away. He glared up at him, "Go away, you make Mama sad!"

Chakotay stared at the little boy in shock. "No, I don't."

Luke shook his head vehemently. "Yes, do! Go away!"

Chakotay's mind was reeling when Seven returned a couple of minutes later. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

Chakotay glanced quickly down at Luke. "Nothing…it doesn't matter…" He practically ran away, crashing into B'Elanna. "B'Elanna, tell me what's going on here!"

B'Elanna looked cagey, raising his suspicions even further. "Chakotay…if you really want to know you have to find out for yourself."

Chakotay gazed at her and saw truthfulness and anxiety on her face, nodding silently he retreated to his quarters. "Computer, give me access to Captain Chakotay's logs now! Access code Alpha Gamma 14 Beta 1!"

"Unable to comply."

"God damn it!" He yelled, bending down at the console, he would have to try to break into them, looking at the screen he got a shock, Borg algorithms. I'm blocked out of my own logs by her Borg algorithms! Suddenly all the pieces fitted together in his brain. No, it couldn't be. Something in him told him it was true and eventually he gave in. "Computer show me wedding and birth certificates related to Seven of Nine." This was not blocked and three popped up on the screen, all with the same familiar signature under husband and father. Shock numbed his emotions before he could feel anything, but as if his body was detached from his brain his hand tapped the comm. badge and his voice said, "Seven, come to my quarters please."

**A/n: I decided not to drag it out anymore, what do you think? Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Nothing…it doesn't matter…" As Chakotay said these words to her Seven felt a chill of foreboding run up her back. He wouldn't meet her eyes; she could see his throat moving as he swallowed continually, his feet shifting uneasily. He bolted from her presence as quickly as he had appeared, disappearing round a corner with unnatural speed. She tried to control the crushing feelings of loss and abandonment she felt at that moment but couldn't, instead just falling back into the room, breathing heavily to hold back the torrent of tears. She suddenly felt Luke's familiar grip around her legs and reluctantly glanced down; he was looking up at her with a triumphant expression on his face. "Mama, be happy. I made the bad man go away."

Those words pricked Seven's heart like needles, "What…what do you mean?" she asked shakily.

"I _told_ him to go away."

Seven felt her legs go weak as she realised Luke had rejected his own father, a devoted parent and the love of her life. She scooped him up and buried her face in his hair for a few seconds, taking the comfort his closeness offered her. Finally she recovered herself enough to set him down and kneel down beside him. "Listen, my love, I can tell anybody I don't want around me to go away. You don't need to protect me; my purpose in life is to protect _you_, okay?"

He nodded silently and she hugged him close. "Its bedtime." She murmured and he nodded into her shoulder, letting her tuck him in without complaint. Seven left the room and pressed her back into the wall until it hurt, trying to distract herself from the emotional pain and failing dismally. Had she really betrayed Chakotay so utterly in allowing his children to forget him? He's not their father, he no longer exists or else he would be here with me now and none of this would be happening.

The sound of her comm. badge penetrated her desolate mind. "Seven, come to my quarters please." His voice sounded so cold, so detached, that it made her shudder and an irrational sickening fear swept through her.

She could think of no plausible reason to refuse him, so after a couple of anxiety charged moments she responded, trying to sound as normal as possible. "On…on my way." She ordered her feet to move but they remained frozen to the spot. Her struggling heart sought solace in looking at Isabel; sound asleep in her cot, blissfully unaware of the storm her mother knew was brewing. Seven eventually somehow managed to place that expressionless mask over her face that more often than not tricked the people around her, but it hurt to have to hide from the man whom she trusted so deeply.

When Seven entered the room she saw something which shocked her and confirmed her worst fears. Chakotay sat tense and crouching on the edge of a chair he'd turned to face the door, his eyes staring blankly into the glass he was nursing, whiskey if she wasn't mistaken. The activated screen behind him produced the only light in the room, mercilessly revealing the certificates which marked three of the main events of her life. His eyes lifted at her entrance and he pinned her to where she stood with his eyes, his expression unreadable. "So, have you got something to explain to me Seven?" His cold tone didn't hide the anger bubbling beneath.

"No." she replied stoically, equally cold, equally expressionless.

Chakotay stared at her, the weight of shock lifting, finally freeing his emotions. He stood up angrily, so suddenly that the glass in his hand fell to the floor and smashed, the sound mirroring Chakotay's out of control emotions as he came towards Seven. "_You never feel anything do you?_" Seven forced herself to meet his wild eyed gaze, keeping the pain from her eyes. "The children don't know me…was I such a bad husband…" An angry sob burst from him, "Do you hate me that much…"

These words gave Seven's self control a mortal wound and the tears that were its blood began to flow. "_How can you say that to me?_" she choked out between wretched sobs. "When I saw you…I thought I was going insane…what was I supposed to say?"

Her tearful reaction did not really hit Chakotay at this point. "I still have a right to know!"

"It is _irrelevant_! None of this will happen!" Her eyes blazed up at him, almost crazed with grief.

Chakotay seized her arm roughly, "Don't you_ dare_ call our relationship irrelevant…" He stopped her reply by giving into his passionate impulse and kissing her hard. At first Seven automatically responded, allowing him to intensify the kiss further with every passing second, eventually the enormity of what she was doing hit her and she jerked back, forcing herself to turn her face away from his.

For Chakotay it was as if the anger he'd been feeling towards her had been sucked out of him as he kissed her. He still held her shoulders tightly but the tears streaming from the beautiful eyes which wouldn't meet his filled the void with shame and guilt. He gazed at her wordlessly as she shook with grief, he could taste salt on his lips from where they'd met her tears. Seven bit her lip and tried to stop herself from shaking but it just got worse, finally she looked him directly in the face. "Why did you do that Chakotay?" she whispered resentfully.

"Because I wanted to…"

Her only reply to that was a bitter laugh. "Don't lie to me, I know you are experiencing guilt, you feel obligated towards me. I don't want you to _owe_ me, I want you to _love_ me but that is impossible…"

Chakotay felt indignant. "Why? Why do you think it's impossible?"

"You know why." She muttered desolately.

"No, I _don't_! All I know is that within six months of where I came from we were married, in less than four years we'd had two kids! Look, while I've been here…even before that, I was drawn to you. You have no idea how jealous I was of your husband…"

Seven's head dropped low, "My husband is dead." She stated, her eyes dull and far away.

Chakotay rubbed her quivering lips with his thumb, "I'm right here…"

Her head snapped up and she stepped out of his hold. "Then who was it who left me with a nineteen month old and a three week old baby to raise? Who…" She began to truly cry now, huge breath robbing, heart wrenching sobs. "Who…stood at the altar with me…and saw Luke and Isabel…born and named them? Who…died…in my arms…"

Seeing her fall apart like this shattered Chakotay's heart into tiny pieces. She loves me and still grieves for me… He pulled her into his arms trying to help the broken woman who affected him so much. She spoke again forcing out something she felt she had to say. "I didn't _want_ the children to forget you…"

"I didn't mean what I said Seven…" Chakotay started, but she continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"…but they're so young…Isabel had only been out of Sickbay for two days…At first Luke asked for you constantly…but I never encouraged him…it was too painful for me…then one day he never asked at all…that was one of the worst days of my life…"

"I'm sorry…so sorry…" Chakotay choked, his own tears joining hers.

Seven stepped back against the doors. "Don't say that…you gave me all that I have…" She turned to leave, desperate to escape the emotional cage she was trapped in.

He grabbed arm again, "Don't leave like this Seven…"

She turned to him sharply, her eyes glistening. "If you feel _anything_ for me, let me go and forget this. I refuse to be the reason you forfeit what you want when you return." He was so stunned he let her go and she fled before he could formulate his answer.

"You are what I want…" he whispered, but she was gone.

**A/n: I hope this satisfies your expectations but C7 angst isn't my favourite thing in the world, I wanted to get this chapter over with pivotal though it is. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n: The words in italics describe what's happening in Chakotay's logs.**

Seven fled from Chakotay's quarters as fast as her legs could carry her, reaching her cargo bay before she even stopped to properly catch her breath. Her body couldn't allow her to continue and she was on the floor without wilful command from her mind within seconds, curling into herself, unable to keep the distraught tears from bursting free of her mental floodgates and flowing relentlessly. She didn't know how long she lay there until her inherent need for self control kicked back in and she began to analyse what had happened. She knew her outburst had enflamed an already impossible situation and she regretted her actions for she knew Chakotay well enough to know he would also now be suffering and that was the last thing she wanted. Grief fuelled anger still persisted in its assault on her but she could no longer direct it at Chakotay. He hadn't wanted to come here; it wasn't his fault that his very presence caused her almost intolerable pain. He would need to go back, if they didn't help him return the temporal anomaly could take him anywhere. Fear stabbed her, losing him again, despite it all, wasn't a possibility she was willing to consider. Feeling his touch, his kiss once more had pushed her love for him she'd suppressed back into her heart at full strength. Her emotions told her it was irrelevant where or when he came from, she loved him just as much as before.

A sigh of exhausted frustration fluttered through her lips, the worst thing about being a human individual was the conflicted aspect of emotions, she wanted him gone, to end this painful cycle but she also wanted to cling to him and kiss him and beg him not to leave. In that moment she longed for the Collective, its unity of thought and purpose, the simplicity her life had once had compared to the dilemmas she now faced. Suddenly she hated being in that cargo bay with all the residual memories it held and she left abruptly.

Without thinking she sought out her children, silently entering the small side room of Tom and B'Elanna's quarters where they slept. She stood watching them for several minutes knowing she shouldn't wake them but she gave into her impulse and gently lifted a sleeping Isabel out of her cot and held her close.

Isabel stirred and blinked awake. "Mama?" she asked in questioning surprise. "Night."

Seven managed an affectionate if sad smile down at her sleepy daughter. "I know its night time baby, Mama just wanted to see you."

Isabel accepted this, she wasn't the type to object to a cuddle, and huddled against her mother's neck and chest. "Seepy." She stated drowsily.

Seven stroked her hair and kissed her, before hearing a sound as Luke turned over in bed, she approached the bed and sat down on the edge, pulling the cover back and climbing in, gently holding both Luke and Isabel close against her. Isabel fell asleep again almost immediately but Luke opened his eyes in confusion. "Go back to sleep my love." Seven murmured. Luke responded with a mumble and buried his head in her shoulder. She leaned into his ear and whispered, "Tonight is special, and I'm not going to do this every night okay?" He smiled in his sleep and she kissed him. Maternal love, it was different from other emotions, uncomplicated, pure and constant, if only everything was this simple, she would have to draw on all of its strength to do the right thing. Surrounded by her family rather than by the Collective Seven drew comfort from this which allowed exhaustion to take over and she fell into a deep if troubled sleep.

Chakotay meanwhile couldn't take comfort from anything around him and his emotions were just as conflicted as Seven's. He just sat with guilt, love and sorrow being his overwhelming emotions along with confused thoughts which struggled to make sense. Eventually an all consuming desire to know everything that had happened forced him to think logically and begin to decrypt Seven's algorithms which were blocking access to his logs. It took him over four hours but every time he felt like giving up something inside him pushed him on until finally a list of log entries were his reward.

First he watched a recording of their wedding, which touched his soul with the obvious sincerity of both Seven and his future self and then he compulsively, despite the ever increasing grief he felt for both himself and Seven, began to watch the recordings of his logs.

"_Stardate 7935.8, 25__th__ of March 2379." _His future self said directly into the camera. _"Captain's log. Today was the funeral of Captain Kathryn Janeway, killed during a Sultin attack three days ago. I'm Captain now but our mission won't change, I intend to get this crew back home…" Chakotay put his head in hands and breathed heavily. A visibly pregnant Seven appeared behind him and squeezed his shoulder before sitting down beside him. _

"_Leave it for now my love, no one would expect a log today." She murmured softly._ Chakotay was surprised, Seven was a stickler for order and he knew she logged everything that occurred, but perhaps concern for her husband was overriding her concern for efficiency.

His future self must have been thinking along those lines because he said, _"I never thought I'd hear you say that, you log everything." He teased her, but his voice had a sad undertone._

"_I know, but many things have changed." Seven stated heavily._

"_What am I going to do Seven? It was the Captain's wish that we get home but I'm not sure I'm willing to risk…" His voice became more agitated. "I mean she got herself killed trying to…" He glanced at his wife's swelling figure. "I just don't have the conviction she had…some things are too important to risk…"_

_Seven took his face in her hands. "You have every conviction possible…the crew will support you, no one expects you to be Captain Janeway and you shouldn't expect that of yourself…we will confront problems as they arise and you won't be alone."_

_He pulled his wife against him. "You don't know how much I rely on you sweetheart."_

"_The sentiment is mutual…" She sighed as she said that._

"_What's wrong?" He asked her in concern. "You're supposed to be on bed rest and you were on your feet at the funeral all day…"_

"_I wasn't going to miss the Captain's funeral!" she snapped. "I'm sorry, grief and pregnancy hormones do not seem to mix well…"_

_He stroked her face. "I know…try and get some sleep…"_

_A sob broke through her lips. "She'll never get to see the baby…"_

_He visibly swallowed. "You know…she suggested a name for him…"_

"_Really? What was it?"_

"_Luke."_

"_Then Luke he will be. Are we agreed?"_

"_Decision made. Let's go to bed. Computer, end log."_ Chakotay was transfixed and with every further log he watched his sorrow deepened. The interdependency and love between his future self and Seven was more obvious with every snippet of affectionate, supportive conversation caught in the logs. Every exuberant recording of baby Luke's every move, how he was on his father's lap during almost every log, being encouraged to interact with some very cute results.

_Stardate 8093.5, 28__th__ December 2380. Captain's log." Luke was sitting on his father's knee. "Papa's log." He said cheerily, bouncing up and down. _Papa? Thought Chakotay slightly confused, he must have picked that up from Seven, she called her father that. It's cute.

"_Yes, it's Papa's log. Do you have something to say?" Chakotay asked his son affectionately._

"_No." He hopped off his father's lap. "Bike!" he shouted excitedly. Chakotay had to shout to be heard over the sound of Luke crashing into things and laughing. _

"_Luke, you're giving Papa a headache now." Chakotay told him, but he just giggled._

_A heavily pregnant Seven appeared behind him and he turned to her. "If this is what he's like now, what will he be like when he hits the terrible twos in May?"_

_Seven shrugged. "It was your idea to get him a bike for Christmas."_

"_I know, I know, stop rubbing it in. I've learned my lesson; our little girl is getting nothing but dolls and nice calm toys like that."_

_Seven laughed, "Who says dolls are calming? Miral makes hers fight battles!"_

"_She's B'Elanna's daughter all right…"_

"_You've left your log running again. You do that all the time, no one is going to glean useable information from these…"_

"_Luke might want to see them someday. Computer, end log."_

God, it must have hurt Seven when Luke didn't recognise him. No wonder she'd got so upset when he'd confronted her with it. Guilt coursed through him and he bitterly realised that from when that log was taken he had less than a month to live. It had been wrong to break the Temporal Prime Directive he knew, but he couldn't face this future not happening on some level so he kept watching.

"_Stardate 8111.4, 1__st__ of January 2381. Captain's log." _Chakotay was surprised by his future self's beaming happiness and the fact that the log was being taken in Sickbay until he remembered that this would have been Isabel's birthday._ "Seven and I have a daughter; she's beautiful, perfect, born at 0235 hours this morning…"_

"_Chakotay?" Seven's weak voice came from the biobed behind him and he rose to go to her. _This movement gave the camera and the watching Chakotay a clear view of the couple and Isabel in the incubator._ "What happened?"_

"_You had the baby."_

"_I remember that! What's wrong with her?"_

"_Nothing. She's perfect. She's beautiful and looks just like you."_

"_She's seven weeks premature, she must not be well or else you would be letting me see her!" Seven snapped tearfully._

"_She just needs a little time to mature just like Luke did, he's fine and healthy now and she will be soon enough. The Doctor says both of you will need to stay here for three weeks for observation."_

"_Three weeks!" she gasped in horror, "Oh, I should have been able to stay pregnant for longer…"_

_Chakotay wrapped his arms round her. "Listen, I don't want you beating yourself up…she's here now and you're both going to be fine."_

"_She needs a name."_

_Chakotay paused, "How about Isabel?"_

"_Why Isabel?"_

"_Because it means beautiful and she is, just like her mother."_

_Seven smiled at him. "You're going to make both Isabel and I very vain if you keep complimenting us like that."_

"_I doubt it!" he laughed and Seven cuddled into his shoulder with a tired sigh._

"_I'm more tired this time."_

"_I can believe it, that labour was twenty two hours long, you need some sleep."_

"_Okay…" she murmured sleepily._

"_Computer, end log."_

Chakotay felt tears stream down his face at the unfairness of it all, he'd had under a month with his new daughter and Seven had been left alone and bereft. He'd seen all he needed to see, he wasn't going to improve the situation by procrastinating, he needed to speak to Seven.

He found her alone with Luke and Isabel in Tom and B'Elanna's quarters. "Seven? May I come in?"

Seven flushed in his presence having to use all her determination to meet his eyes. "Yes, of course."

Chakotay couldn't think of a way to atone for the night before, much as he wracked his brain and instead approached Isabel who was happily playing with Miral's dolls. "Hey..." He addressed the little girl gently and she looked up at him. "You're Isabel aren't you? Can I play with you?"

"Yesh." She said, extending a doll out to him. He took it with a smile and began to play with her, feeling himself relax as he did so. After half an hour of this Luke, hovering protectively near his mother began to feel jealous in spite of himself and he picked up a toy car from the floor and walked cautiously over to Chakotay.

"Cars are better than dolls." He stated knowingly.

Chakotay looked at him, happy that Luke was finally interacting with him of his own accord. "Why don't you bring some over and show me then?"

Eventually the three of them were chattering away happily, but Chakotay couldn't help glancing over at Seven every five minutes, she just watched them still as stone until suddenly she called B'Elanna up on her comm. badge. "B'Elanna, can you take Luke and Isabel for a little while?"

"Yeah sure, I'll come in a minute."

"Mama, why are we going?" Luke piped up.

"Because Commander Chakotay and I need to have a talk." Seven said quietly.

"But Mama, you don't like to talk." Despite the seriousness of the situation Chakotay couldn't suppress a laugh.

"It is necessary." B'Elanna entered at that moment but didn't say anything. "Now both of you come and say goodbye and I'll see you later."

Both Luke and Isabel jumped up and got their hugs and kisses before joining B'Elanna. Isabel waved at Chakotay and Luke mumbled a shy "Bye."

Chakotay smiled at them, "Bye, have fun. I'll see you both again."

They left and Seven broke the silence. "You're so good with them." She murmured with a sad wistfulness.

"Only because you've raised them so well." Seven lowered her head but he persisted. "I'm telling you the truth Seven, I always have." He went to her and knelt down grasping her hands. "I know that I've hurt you…I'm sorry Seven."

"None of this is your doing, I also must apologise…I…I overreacted."

"No…don't say that." He told her, squeezing her hands before continuing. "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me okay?" She nodded. "How long…after Ledosia did it take me to ask you out?"

Seven was stunned and paused before keeping her word. "Three days."

"Three days! Seven, if you knew that, you know I have feelings for you. Why do you keep saying otherwise?"

"This isn't exactly a normal situation! You shouldn't feel forced into anything, forced to love me, I love you too much for that!"

He kissed her hands over and over, she flinched slightly but didn't pull away. "Seven, if I can stay with you and the kids I will! This timeline has continued to exist so far with me here…"

Seven swallowed hard and he could see tears in her eyes. "If…if only it was that simple…"

Pain suddenly surged through Chakotay and his vision went blurry. "What's…happening?" he choked out.

Seven could see his whole body flickering, this was what she had feared. She held him and shouted down the comm. line, "Doctor, medical emergency!"

**A/n: A bit of a self indulgent chapter but I hope you're still enjoying it, please review! I haven't forgotten about Fascination and Lost and Found, I ****will**** be updating them soon I promise!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n: I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner but I was caught up in my longest running C7 story "Fascination". I hope you like this new chapter!**

The Doctor responded to Seven's call immediately. As soon as he saw Chakotay's confused, pain wracked face he ordered an emergency transport, but Seven shook her head. "The transportation process will only destabilise him further and may send him into another time period."

"Then, we'll need to help him walk to Sickbay and hope that I can stabilise him for the time being while we think of a more permanent solution." Seven didn't need to be told twice, she bent over Chakotay and helped him to stand, murmuring soothing and encouraging words to guide his frightened mind. He obeyed her with difficulty unable to fully comprehend what was happening to him. Thankfully they got to Sickbay just as he began to fade away again and the Doctor could scan him more fully as they laid him on a biobed. "Every molecule in his body is temporally unstable; I've never seen anything like it! Seven you seem to have an idea about what's happening can we do anything?"

Seven tore her eyes away from Chakotay as his body flickered in and out and turned to the Doctor. "There is a temporary measure I am aware of; an injection of Menilizone would stabilize his cells for a maximum of six hours."

The Doctor stared at her angrily. "Menilizone? You can't be serious! That can cause heart failure in humans!"

"Do you think I would suggest it if I knew of any other way!" Seven retorted hotly, "We must do it soon or it will be too late and he will be gone!"

The Doctor heard the sincerity in her voice and knew she wouldn't be suggesting something with side affects if she had no other choice. He glanced at his patient and made his choice. "All right." He didn't rush; the dose had to be just right to avoid cardiac arrest and allowed Seven to hold Chakotay's hand as he did the injection. A few painfully tense seconds passed before Chakotay's body became solid, but an urgent alarm told him that his heart had stopped. Mercifully one shock with a cortical stimulator brought him back with a gasp, his body and mind fully with them once again.

The Doctor looked at a horribly pale Seven dreading to ask the question which needed to be asked. "How long before he destabilises again?"

Seven didn't take her eyes off of Chakotay's still body. "Three hours maximum." She whispered, swallowing the lump of tears in her throat as she saw Chakotay stir.

He was barely awake before he asked after his main concern. "Seven?"

Seven stepped forward and gently took his hand which he grasped for dear life. "I am here…" she murmured. The Doctor looking into their faces suddenly had no doubt that Chakotay knew everything, for he was gazing at Seven with the expression only given to a lover and she no longer hid her emotions from him. The Doctor couldn't feel happy for them, he knew there was too much heartbreak ahead for that but at the same time he felt it was right that they be together again in whatever form.

At that moment Tuvok entered and was instantly made aware of what the Doctor had just realised when the couple let go of each other's hands and turned to face him. "What has happened?" he looked Seven directly in the eye but the Doctor answered.

"His body went almost completely out of sync with the rest of us, the treatment I gave him will only last three hours."

"What can we do to make this cease?"

Seven now quietly but firmly spoke. "He must return to his own timeline."

Chakotay felt grief stab him and it must have been visible on his face for Seven touched his arm as she addressed them all. "The only…cure…for the effect of Temporal Anomaly 8564 is to return to the instant of the event, or else you may be taken into any period of time until your body permanently destabilises."

"How can we send him back?" Tuvok asked.

"The ship must have passed through a temporal rift when he destabilised, we must reach another and use defector pulses to hopefully return him."

"_Hopefully_?" echoed the Doctor incredulously.

Seven stared back somewhat defiantly but her eyes were glimmering with tears. "Time travel is an unpredictable science Doctor."

"Seven go and trace another temporal rift and get to work on the deflector modifications, get B'Elanna and Icheb to help you." Tuvok ordered. Seven nodded silently and left without looking at Chakotay who was filled with hurt and confusion. They aren't even consulting me! Who says I want to go back! It's either living there or dying here, said another voice in his head. While he was still trying to sort out his thoughts and emotions, Tuvok approached him and promptly asked the Doctor to leave, who did so grumbling all the way out of the door.

Tuvok just got straight to it. "To what extent have you violated the Temporal Prime Directive?"

Chakotay gave a strained sigh. "In every way possible." He admitted.

"Seven told you?"

Chakotay felt his hackles rise in anger. "_None_ of this is Seven's fault! She didn't want to tell me…I cornered her in the worse way possible…I knew you were all hiding something…I was falling in love with her in my own timeline…I just had to know…"

"It is always highly inadvisable to alter a timeline…"

"I'll make things better!"

"No timeline is perfect…without loss and sorrow…they have existed since time began. You must prepare yourself that you may not like what you create."

"I'm willing to take that risk…truly I am." Chakotay said with conviction.

Tuvok must have believed him for he withdrew a pad from his pocket and handed it to him. "This is a list of all the deadly encounters we have experienced in the last five years. If you have decided memorise it for you will not be able to take it with you." With that as his only parting words he left, Chakotay stared after him, maybe he had been wrong and Tuvok had made a good Captain after all.

After an hour of memorising the information, Chakotay finally got permission to leave Sickbay and seek out Seven, finding her in Astrometrics as he had expected. For a few moments he just gazed at her before he had the courage to form words. "Have you found what you've been looking for Seven?" he asked his voice full of emotion he couldn't fully express.

Seven couldn't bring herself to look at him and her answer sounded hollow. "Another temporal rift will occur in twenty two minutes…the deflector is ready."

Chakotay choked, "Twenty two minutes! Is that all we're going to have Seven?"

She let herself look at him now, "Yes…"

He couldn't stop himself anymore; his previous declarations seemed worthless now. "Seven…I wish…I wish…"

"I know…it doesn't need to be said." She told him with difficulty.

"Can I see the children?"

Seven let tears slide down her face, "Yes of course…they'd like that…" She pressed her comm. badge. "B'Elanna can you bring Luke and Isabel here?"

Within a few minutes Luke bounced in with Isabel at his heels, but his face fell when he saw Seven and Chakotay's expressions. "What's wrong Mama?"

Seven wiped her face and smiled sadly down at her children. "Chakotay's going home and he wants to say goodbye to both of you."

"No!" exclaimed Isabel, the sorrow in the room affecting even her.

Chakotay knelt down to her. "I have to go honey…but you keep a doll for me okay?"

This perked Isabel up slightly, "Yesh, good!" She patted him on the head, which made him laugh for he had done the same thing to her. "Bye, bye."

"Bye, sweetie." He said with gentle affection.

Luke now shyly approached him. "Is your home nice? I bet it's not as good as here."

"No, no it's not, but I have to go back." He leaned over and whispered in Luke's ear, "Look after your Mama for me, won't you?"

That provoked an unexpected response, Luke hugged him quick but tight, murmuring "I will" into Chakotay's ear. Chakotay hugged him back and then both he and Isabel left. Chakotay stared at the door for a couple of seconds before Seven's sobs made him turn around.

Seven was leaning heavily on the console, sobs wracking her body, for it had just now fully hit her how final all this was, she was losing her children forever, they wouldn't even exist. Chakotay knew this without asking and took her in his arms, "Seven, don't worry…I love you so much…"

Seven lifted her head, "I know you do…now, but when you're back in your timeline these feelings will fade…"

"I know my own heart Seven, they're not going to fade!"

"I want you to remember that there is no obligation, do not feel guilty about anything…"

"It wouldn't be obligation, it would be love alone…will you give me something to remember you by?"

"You know me…" she replied in confusion before a thought passed through mind and she took her engagement ring off and pressed it into his hand. "Give this to whoever you wish, with my love and blessing."

His hand closed around it and he took her arm. "Trust me Seven." What his eyes said told her more than the words.

"You must go to Engineering, you are soon to return."

Quicker than he'd ever thought twenty two minutes would pass he found himself standing in Engineering as they activated the deflector, the last thing he saw before he blacked out was Seven's face.

He opened his eyes to find himself standing in the corridor outside his quarters. "Computer, date and time!" he shouted, his heart racing.

"Stardate 7652.6, 2nd of May 2377. 1930 hours" He was back to exactly when he'd left, he doubted if anyone had noticed his, for them, momentary absence. Had it really happened? He looked down at his hand and saw Seven's ring glittering in his palm. What am I going to do now?

**A/n: Please review, I'm not done yet! I know the conversation between Chakotay and Seven could have been longer but I was getting upset writing it. (I'm so pathetic!) I also know that using the deflector as a solution is a Star Trek cliché but all the shows do it so why shouldn't I? I'll try and update soon.**


	8. Chapter 8

Closing his fist tightly round the ring, his only proof that any of it had actually happened, Chakotay leaned heavily against the wall, allowing his eyes to close momentarily as he tried to corral his scattered thoughts. "Chakotay? Are you all right?"

Jumping violently at the voice he opened his eyes to see Kathryn peering at him in concern. "Captain…" he mumbled shakily.

"What's happened with you? You look like you've seen a ghost." That ghost is you, where I was you were long dead, well I was dead too, oh I'm getting a migraine.

"Kathryn, can I talk to you about something?"

Janeway had been about to relax in her quarters, but she looked at his pale face and wild eyes and decided that could wait. "Yeah sure, we'll go to my quarters."

"I'd prefer your ready room Captain." He wasn't about to have such a complex conversation in her quarters.

"My ready room? Is something wrong with a crewmember?"

"No…I'll explain I promise." Having a brainwave he pressed his comm. badge, "Seven, can you meet the Captain and I in her ready room?"

There was a slight pause before the voice he'd been longing to hear answered. "As you wish Commander." Thank you for not asking any questions my darling, he thought deeply relieved at the prospect of seeing her.

The Captain meanwhile was even more confused. "What's Seven got to do with anything? Has she done something wrong?"

"No! I just need her to prove something to you that's all." Chakotay wished at that moment that Janeway would follow Seven's lead and not question him but he knew that was never going to happen. Seven would find Temporal Anomaly whatever it was and the Captain would have to believe him. "Let's just go meet her, okay?" he said in exasperation.

"Alright Chakotay, fine, but I'm expecting an explanation."

"Don't worry, you'll get one."

They walked into the ready room to find Seven standing waiting for them. The beaming smile he gave her must have unnerved her because her eyes met his only briefly before moving on to the Captain. I'd better wipe that stupid grin off my face, I'm freaking her out. Despite these thoughts his eyes kept on thirstily drinking her in.

Seven shook off the unease she was feeling. "Good evening Captain, Commander." She nodded her towards him hurriedly not wanting to become absorbed with analysing the dark eyes which were permanently fixed on her.

"Good evening Seven." The Captain replied, "Right Chakotay, you want to tell me what's going on?"

Chakotay nervously rubbed the palms of his hands on his trousers. "I've just returned from 2382, I was there for three days."

Janeway and Seven stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Commander I saw you in Cargo Bay 2 fifteen minutes ago…" Seven started.

"From your perspective I know you did, but from my perspective that conversation was three days ago before all this happened." The Captain began to speak but he cut her off. "Look Seven, your future self told me it was something called Temporal Anomaly 8564 that did all this, she sent me back by doing something with the deflector…"

Understanding must have dawned on Seven because she immediately ran to the wall console and began running scans. "He is telling the truth Captain, I've checked the Astrometrics scans and Temporal Anomaly 8564 occurred at precisely 1930 hours and again half a second later."

"Half a second isn't exactly three days Seven!" said the Captain.

"I am aware of that Captain, but if the Commander's account is accurate then my future self returned him as close as possible to the point of his departure."

"Yes, she did!" said Chakotay relieved at finally being believed.

"Chakotay, go and tell the Doctor to give you a full physical and don't tell him why." The Captain ordered.

"Kathryn, I'm fine…"

"It's an order! I don't mess around with anomalies of any sort but especially not temporal ones. Go now."

Chakotay reluctantly went and got checked out by the Doctor as ordered and was found to be in near perfect health as he knew he would be. He returned after half an hour in Sickbay to find the Captain alone in her ready room. "Where's Seven?" he asked with anxious urgency.

The Captain hid her surprise at his sudden strong preoccupation with Seven, "I sent her away, there's no need for her to hear you break the Temporal Prime Directive as I know you will."

She needs to hear and understand more than anyone else! Thought Chakotay in frustration but he held his tongue, imagining what Kathryn would say if he told her Seven needed to hear this because she was his future wife and that he was already in love with her. "I respect your opinion Captain but it needs to be broken because you, I and many other crewmembers are going to die in the next five years."

"_What?_" choked the Captain.

Chakotay proceeded to tell her everything that he had memorised from the data Tuvok had given him, when he was finished she sighed deeply and put her head in her hands. "You are to tell no one of this, is that understood? I think it would be best if you tried to forget what you learned."

Chakotay unconsciously felt for the ring in his pocket. "I don't think I can Kathryn…"

"Try your best. You're dismissed." Chakotay rose to leave but as he reached the door Janeway spoke again. "So, Seven helped you in the future did she?"

Chakotay turned and looked her directly in the eye. "Yes, she did." He said softly, leaving quickly without another word. Kathryn felt a small laugh leave her lips, he couldn't be…it was impossible. Taking a quick swig of coffee, she dismissed the thought that had passed through her mind as he looked at her. My mind is starting to play tricks on me. I'm seeing things that can't possibly be there.

Chakotay rubbed his eyes after another unsuccessful attempt at sleep. "Computer, date and time."

"Stardate 7657.2, 5th of May 2377. 0605 hours."

5th of May, 5th of May, why was that significant? Wait, it was three days after himself and Seven had returned from Ledosia, future Seven had told him this was the day he had first asked her out. Today he really would have to confront his nerves. It wasn't as if he'd been avoiding her, far from it, in fact he'd been spending an almost unhealthy amount of time just watching her in Astrometrics or finding an excuse to go down to her cargo bay, but he had never been able to get beyond the most basic small talk. Well, today I will. "Computer, locate Seven of Nine."

"Seven of Nine is in Astrometrics."

Not needing to be told twice he jumped out of bed and went to Astrometrics.

Seven knew it was him entering before she turned around, she was becoming used to the sound of his distinctive footsteps. She could feel his eyes on her with that expression she both wanted and feared to be longing, the dark handsome eyes which she privately wished she could just sink into…Oh why had the Borg left her with ability to feel attraction? It caused unrivalled difficulty with humans. "What are you doing here so early? Couldn't sleep?" he asked her gently in greeting.

Now that she thought about it she hadn't had the most efficient of regeneration cycles but what did that matter to him? "I am here because I am on duty…" she couldn't help shooting him a quick questioning glance. "…unless you have changed the duty roster Commander?"

Chakotay cringed inwardly, how could he have forgotten that he himself had given her this shift? "No…no…I haven't…" he mumbled awkwardly. She said nothing and he fell into observing her again, it was still strange not seeing Luke and Isabel round her feet.

With every passing second Seven tensed up further until she couldn't take it anymore. "Is there something I can do for you Commander?"

He was starting to hate his own rank. "Call me Chakotay."

Seven swallowed, she called everyone on the ship by their rank and no one had ever requested otherwise. All she could do was nod but it seemed satisfy him for he beamed at her in that vivid way of his.

Chakotay's impatience overrode his nerves. "Seven, come and eat breakfast with me…" Seeing the look on her face he clarified, "It's a request, not an order."

"I am on duty Comman…Chakotay…"

"I'd take the blame if anything happened, don't worry."

Seven blushed, "I would never blame you if…"

He lightly touched her arm to stop her. "I know Seven."

Seven looked down at his hand still on her arm and then into his eyes. "We would be alone?"

"Yes."

"A date?" she whispered, too mesmerised by his face to realise the implication of her words.

"I'd like that."

"I…would also…like that." She stammered.

"Good." He breathed, taking her hand and leading her from Astrometrics.

Chakotay paced round his quarters, he couldn't believe they were on their forth date already. He had prepared too early and now he had nothing to do but wait for her arrival. He looked intently at the door but was shocked when she suddenly beamed in before him with a bunch of flowers. Misinterpreting why he was stunned she asked, "Am I early?"

"No…you're right on time. Something wrong with the door?"

"I thought it would be indiscreet to be seen taking flowers to the First Officer's quarters."

Don't worry Seven, they get used to it. He was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to kiss her but pushed it back, remembering his decision that he would take it slow. "I'll put these in water…" Impulsively Seven leaned in and kissed him and he had deepened and prolonged it before he knew what he was doing.

Seven suddenly pulled back, the most flustered he had ever seen her. "I've… been told that there's… a great deal of tension leading up to a first kiss…I wanted to alleviate that tension."

"You succeeded. What about the second kiss?" he murmured, unable to resist pushing his luck.

"I am unsure…I can check the database…" His kiss stopped her, his arms pulled her close and they began kissing passionately with more confidence than before. Their comm. badges beeped but they both ignored them, lost in each other until the Captain's voice broke through, "Senior officers report to the bridge." They allowed their lips to part reluctantly, Seven still keeping her grip on his uniform.

"Next time we turn off the comm. system." He whispered to her and she smiled, letting go of him and heading to the door. Following her many thoughts passed through his brain. Wow, if I didn't know before I know now why I married her. At least I know now we'll have plenty of time.

**A/n: If anyone can guess what's happened I'll be impressed. Please review! I've published a new C/7 story called "Frozen" Please give it a look!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chakotay stepped back in the turbolift to allow Seven to come onto the bridge first, she flashed him a quick smile and he easily returned it, before seeing Seven stiffen as she looked at the view screen. Worry prickled him as he looked over her shoulder, what he saw made him gasp and he had to lean on the nearest console for support. A second Janeway, her hair silver and clothed in an Admiral's uniform, gazed out of the view screen. The Captain was out of her chair, eyes wide. "Who are you?"

"I'm you Captain, don't you recognise me?"

"I…" Captain Janeway stuttered.

"Why don't you let me dock my shuttle and we'll talk." It was said more as an order than a request.

The Captain nodded mutely and the Admiral appeared satisfied, switching off her comm. system. "Let her aboard." The Captain ordered Harry.

"Captain, I don't think…" Chakotay intervened, his mind still reeling.

"She's coming aboard Chakotay!" snapped Janeway.

Seven looked at Chakotay in concern; he was taking this turn of events even worse than the Captain, who had just seen her future self. Chakotay caught her look and whispered urgently. "Do you think this has anything to do with Temporal Anomaly…"

"No." She replied in the same tone, "It seems she came in some sort of shuttle…she has come here with the express purpose to change the timeline."

That was just what Chakotay had feared, he obviously already had changed the timeline or else the Admiral would be dead. What had happened to make her so desperate? He remembered Captain Tuvok's warning, that the timeline could change for the worse instead of better. An icy shudder ran through him as he realised he could have been responsible for such changes.

The Admiral did not endeavour to enlighten him, even though he reasoned she must know of his own recent time travel. He had to listen to the crew's enraptured questions as he tied himself up in knots of anxiety. Apparently, this Janeway was from twenty six years into the future, 2403. She was Starfleet's most decorated Admiral and judging from her shuttle, technology would come a long way in the next three decades. He was worrying over nothing, obviously his changes had worked since Janeway hadn't died in 2379. She seemed obsessed by a Borg infested wormhole cluster, perhaps Kathryn was just being Kathryn and wanting to get them home that little bit faster, his mind immediately crushed this faint hope in his heart, why would Kathryn risk all their lives if the future she'd left behind was perfect? None of these questions were answered as the Admiral sequestered herself in the ready room with her younger self and he had to go back to work valiantly attempting to hide his fear from the crew.

Chakotay paced his room. The Captain had decided not to follow the Admiral's plan, everything would continue as before. A large part of him was relieved, he never wanted to even think about time travel again but at the same time he knew how he would have reacted if the Captain had not obeyed his foreknowledge so he had a strong suspicion the Admiral was not about to let things lie. "Computer, locate Admiral Janeway."

"Admiral Janeway is in Cargo Bay 2." No! She couldn't tell Seven anything, if he was going to die then so be it but for Seven to know would break her heart and estrange them forever. This thought drove him from his quarters and down to the cargo bay with unnatural speed. The doors opened at his command and he ran in to find the Admiral alone and visibly seething. "What are you doing here?" he asked, unable to keep the accusatory tone from his voice.

"I _was_ talking to Seven about her future." She said coldly.

"What? You have no right to manipulate her like that…"

The Admiral glared at her former First Officer. "It's for her own good! Of course, she's too obsessed by her own guilt and too stubborn to take the feelings of others into account…You're stubborn too but you'll thank me!"

Her superior detached tone made him see red and he seized her arm. "No one has the right to control her! Who the hell do you think you are to tell her I'm going to die…"

The Admiral stared up at his wild face in surprise. "You're not the one who's going to die, Seven is."

Chakotay felt as if he'd been kicked, all the air rushing from his lungs in a sickening gasp. "No…no…that's impossible…"

"Anyone can die Chakotay, now will you reason with her?" asked the Admiral desperately.

"I…I…killed her…I made it worse…" he moaned horribly as his legs collapsed beneath him.

Memories began to crowd in the Admiral's brain, Chakotay ranting in the same way while cradling his dead wife…his suicidal guilt that seemed to come from nowhere, she hadn't understood it then, blaming it on hysterical grief but now she wondered if it was more than that.

"What…what about the children?" Chakotay finally managed to choke out, perhaps he had ended up in a similar situation to Seven and had been left to raise Luke and Isabel alone? The very thought of it made him wince but his need to know pushed back the fear.

The Admiral's eyes became clouded with grief and her voice became laced with it. "You...never had any children with Seven Chakotay…none that survived anyway…she was pregnant when she died…there was an attack on the ship and she was injured…the baby wasn't far enough along to be saved. She died in your arms…" She gulped to hold back the tears. "Help me fix it Chakotay, for the love of God!"

Chakotay's nails dug into his skin. "You think I'd play around with the timeline anymore after knowing that what I changed did more harm than good…"

"Nothing is set in stone Chakotay, nothing of what you or I have seen is certain…" Pleaded the Admiral.

Chakotay wrenched his head up, tears streaming down his face. "_GET OUT! Just leave me alone_!" he howled, his eyes at that moment almost insane with guilt and grief. The Admiral had seen this look on his face enough times in the future to know when to leave and she bolted from the room.

Chakotay barely registered her departure, curling up next to Seven's alcove and crying as he never had before. Was that all the future held for him, a life without Seven, without even Luke or Isabel to draw strength from? After a long time he felt as if his mind floated free above his crumpled body and he began to contemplate, was the Admiral right in saying nothing was set in stone? The two futures were different, unpredictable, he could die tomorrow and the future would change, the future was always changing. It was the present he had to live for, grasp every happy memory with Seven while he could no matter how long they had together. This moment of clarity cleared his mind of the grief and he stood up, knowing what he had to do.

When he entered Astrometrics he found Seven alone with her back to him, when he reached for her she instantly flinched and stepped as far away from him as she possibly could in the small room. "Seven, I know what she told you…"

Her head jerked back with a shudder, "Good…then you understand why we have to terminate our relations."

He grasped her hands and she choked back a sob. "I know why you think that but we'll just have to take the risk…"

Her shining tear filled eyes gazed at him in wide incredulity. "Take the risk? No, I can't…I won't be the cause of your grief…I _never_ want to hurt you…"

Chakotay looked at her with love and sadness, she wasn't any different from her future self, putting him first despite her own feelings. "You never could hurt me my love, not really."

She began to sob in earnest now, no longer caring about self control. He held her but she remained stiff in his arms. "Seven, if I were to die tomorrow would you regret our relationship?"

She inhaled sharply in horror and retreated into logic, "The Admiral would've…"

"The future has changed. The Admiral doesn't know anything. Answer my question."

"No…I could never regret you…"

He stroked her face, "That's what I'm saying, we could only have today, we could have the next fifty years, the only thing that matters is how we're feeling right now."

As his argument filtered into her heart and brain, she sagged against him, burying her face in his shoulder. "I love you right now…"

He kissed her gently and held her as close as he possibly could. "I love you right now too."

**A/n: I'm surprised none of you guessed about Admiral Janeway, please review and tell me what you think! I'll update soon, there's still a bit more to go.**


	10. Chapter 10

Seven set down her glass of water on the table and sat down in the chair closest to the window, parting the thin curtain with her fingers to peer down at the world below. The early rising sun of late June warmed her face and lit up the streets, just beginning to awake to start another day. Seven thoughtfully ran her finger round the rim of the glass, all those individuals, unknown to her and she unknown to them, she smiled softly as she realised the thought no longer disturbed her. Perhaps she was finally becoming accustomed to life on Earth. Good, it had taken her long enough…

She jumped in surprise as warm hands went over her eyes but relaxed as she heard his familiar voice in her ear. "Good morning birthday girl…" She smiled as he kissed her ear and neck, gently taking his hands off her eyes and kissing them before turning round to face him.

"Good morning." She replied, kissing him softly as he wrapped his arms round her waist.

Chakotay looked at her lovingly. "What are you doing up so early on your birthday? Wait, I didn't get the date wrong did I?"

She laughed at the anxiety in his voice. "You were correct. Today is the 24th of June 2378. I am now thirty years old using the Earth calendar. Why would I change my sleeping patterns because of this?"

Chakotay let out a sigh of relief before answering; it would have been embarrassing to not know your girlfriend's birthday. "Well, birthdays are special…I just thought you would have had a lie in that's all." He paused to gaze at her face. "You looked deep in thought when I surprised you, depressed about getting a year older?"

"Ageing is inevitable." She stated bluntly, "I was thinking about my…" she blushed slightly, "…our life here…"

Chakotay put an arm around her shoulders, "I know. I can't believe it's been over a year now."

"I was thinking that I am finally becoming somewhat accustomed to it…"

"Somewhat?" He put his hand under chin, "Sweetheart don't push yourself so much, you've done so well. I'm _very_ proud of you, okay?" He looked at her for acknowledgement and she nodded. Changing the subject he said, "So I've taken the day off, what do you want to do for your birthday?"

Seven stared at him for a moment. "Why did you take the day off? I'm briefing Starfleet Headquarters on my new project today."

Chakotay's mouth fell open, "That's _today_?" She nodded and he cringed, his detailed plan falling to pieces before his eyes. "Can't you reschedule?" he begged in a last ditch salvage attempt.

Seven shook her head, unsure as to why he was taking it so hard. "I promised Admiral Janeway…" His face fell further, knowing that that meant no and she tried to reassure him. "I should be able to return here by early evening."

"Really? That's great!" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly.

"I must go and prepare." She told him firmly, disentangling herself from his arms.

Seven left that morning feeling very confused by Chakotay's actions for once she was ready he had practically pushed her out of the door. Chakotay meanwhile sighed deeply as soon as she was gone, immediately pulling out the engagement ring he had got from the alternate future Seven he had met and closing his hand around it. What was he supposed to do now? He had had his heart set on a lovely birthday and then the proposal and now she wouldn't be back until the evening! An idea hit him and he ran to the phone to call the restaurant. If he had learned anything from Seven it was how to adapt.

He looked up at the clock for the fifth time in as many minutes, it was only four o'clock, he still had at least a couple of hours to go before she returned. He wished he could settle down to do some work but his heart was too nervous and alert. He paced around their bedroom before looking at himself in the mirror, would she really want to marry him? The optimistic part of his brain reminded him that she had accepted him in two different realities but rather than taking comfort from this information it just made him feel worse, since they had never discussed time travel again since the incident with the future Admiral. He held the ring between two fingers, hoping she wouldn't mind that it wasn't in a box. Maybe she will, I wouldn't be surprised if the Doctor showed her what the prefect proposal should be in those social lessons of his!

He knelt down in front of the mirror and looked at himself, he looked so awkward! Repositioning until he was at least balanced, he decided to practice what he would say. "Seven I…want to marry you…" No, he would need to put more thought into it than that! "Seven, you're the most beautiful, intelligent…headstrong woman I've ever known, I love you and I want to marry you…" No, that didn't sound right either! "Seven, you know how much I love you…I want us to be together for as long as fate gives us…please marry me…"

It was only now that he heard a faint sound behind him and looked in the mirror to see Seven standing at the room's threshold, pale and wide eyed. "Seven! What are you doing here?"

"The briefing…took less time than I anticipated…" she stammered, openly staring at him.

Chakotay struggled to collect himself, turning on his knees to face her. "This isn't how I wanted it to be…it was going to be romantic I promise! I booked a table at a restaurant and everything…" Seven came out of her shocked paralysis and ran to him, kneeling down and kissing him full on the mouth, tears staining her cheeks. Chakotay pulled back, feeling her silent acceptance. "How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it." She told him, crying and laughing.

Chakotay began to blush fiercely, "Even the part about you being headstrong?"

Seven kissed him repeatedly, still laughing. "Yes…yes…yes…"

Chakotay began to laugh uncontrollably as the joyous ludicrousness of the situation set in. She allowed him to slip the ring on her finger and take her into his arms.

A little voice began to make itself known on the edge of Chakotay's sleeping consciousness, he groaned and batted it away with his arm but it persisted, growing louder until the weight of something landing on him jolted him awake to the sight of a little boy with bright dark eyes and light brown hair peering intently into his face. "Papa wake up! You promised you'd build the new swing today!"

Chakotay blinked blearily, the memory of the promise to the boy to get him to sleep the night before slowly returning. "Papa!" moaned the boy impatiently.

Chakotay sighed at his own stupidity in thinking he would forget the promise. "Luke, what have Mama and I told you about jumping on people, especially when they're asleep?"

Luke had the grace to appear slightly abashed. "That it's bad...but it was necessary, you need to wake up."

Chakotay smiled fondly at his two year old even being able to say the word necessary let alone use it in a sentence. "Well, I'm awake now so…" He grabbed Luke by the waist and began to tickle him.

Luke began to laugh riotously, "Papa…Papa…stop…" His hands struggled to try to defend himself against his father. "Mama! Papa's tickling me!" he cried as he noticed his mother in the doorway watching them.

"You did wake him up Luke." She pointed out bluntly, shifting her arms to better accommodate the little girl squirming in her arms.

"Down, Mama, down!" she cried insistently. On getting her wish she ran comically across the floor and grabbed the edge of the duvet, desperate to join her father and elder brother in the fun.

"All right Izzy, all right." Said Chakotay leaning over and lifting the little girl onto him for a cuddle, getting a mouthful of her soft black hair in the process as she clung to him like a limpet. "How's my girl this morning?"

She mumbled something incomprehensible against his neck, before Luke, getting a bit jealous held up a toy. "Look Isabel I've got your rabbit!"

The reaction was immediate and resulted in Luke running from the room, rabbit held aloft, Isabel valiantly trying to follow. This having been a regular occurrence since Isabel had learned to walk, their parents just ignored it, Chakotay sinking back into the covers with a laugh. "Active morning Seven?" he asked his wife jokingly.

"Average." She responded, coming over to his open arms for a hug, kissing him impulsively. "Remember I have to go into the city today, it's unavoidable but the Doctor scheduled my maintenance for today too so I won't be back until after the children _should_ be in bed."

"They'll be in bed if we're lucky!" he laughed but as he pulled back he felt a shiver. "Seven, what's the date today?" He didn't know why he'd asked that but now that he had he had to know.

"Stardate 8251.1 2nd of May 2382." Seven registered his sudden smile. "Is the date a significant one?"

"No, not really." He reassured her, watching her back as she left to attend to their children. Today was the day he had come to in the other timeline! If only he had been able to tell that Seven how well things would work out when he'd left her…

Seven left for San Francisco as planned and Chakotay spent the day out in the garden trying to keep Luke and Isabel entertained while he attempted to build their new swing set and having a shameful amount of difficulty. The day wore on and Chakotay was becoming exasperated, the pieces just weren't coming together. Luke suddenly came up behind him, "Papa, it goes like this." He stated knowingly, picking up two pieces and easily clicking them together.

Chakotay examined what his son had just done and smiled in awe and approval. "Well done son. You leave it to me now and you'll get to play on it soon." Luke gave him a sceptical look that made him want to laugh before nodding his head and running off to the slide.

Luke's scepticism proved unfounded, Chakotay did manage to complete the swing, the difficulty was in getting Isabel to come off. Chakotay stood in front of her sitting on the swing. "I'm not going to push you anymore Isabel. It's time to come in the house."

No." she replied stubbornly, fixing her big blue eyes on him.

Chakotay glanced at the looming dark clouds above them. "Isabel it's going to rain, you don't want to get wet do you?"

"Iwwelevant." Chakotay almost choked, had she just said what he thought she'd said? Seven was going to have a heart attack when she heard her beloved sixteen month old say that! At the same time he couldn't stop the wide grin coming to his face, it sounded so cute.

"Listen madam, that doesn't work when your mother says it and it certainly won't work with you, so just come on." He lifted her up and she submitted without any argument. He smiled as he took her into the house; wait till the crew heard about this!

Seven walked in the door that night to see her husband and children half asleep on the couch watching one of those 20th century "Disney" movies Tom Paris had introduced the children to. She tried not to disturb them knowing that if she did they would all have to watch the movie again to get them to fall asleep. Unfortunately her plan failed almost immediately, Luke jumping up wide awake once again at the sight of his mother. "Mama!" he cried joyfully, hurtling himself into her arms.

Despite her disappointment at waking him, she instinctively held him close and kissed him. "Hello my love." She murmured, she always missed her family intensely when they were apart, she wasn't the sort of person who enjoyed being alone.

Isabel now woke up too, lifting her arms up, but Seven sat down on the couch and put her in her lap. "Miss you Mama." Isabel said softly.

"I missed you too baby." Seven replied, kissing her face. She turned to Chakotay, who was waking. "Good evening…"

"Hey, everything fine at work and with the Doctor?"

"Fine." She said shortly, not wishing to have the conversation she knew she was going to have to have. "What are you watching?"

"101 Dalmatians." Chakotay whispered as Luke settled between them.

"Again?" asked Seven incredulously, the children had watched that film for the last three nights in a row, surely they realised it was a physical impossibility for a dog to have that many puppies?

Chakotay glanced down at Luke and Isabel, sitting agog. "They insisted."

"Stubborn."

He laughed softly, "And where do you think they get that from?"

"Both of us." She retorted affectionately as they settled down to their duty.

As the credits rolled Seven glanced down at Isabel, sound asleep in her lap and Luke nestled in his father's shoulder. "I think they can be put to bed now."

Chakotay nodded and stood up with Luke in his arms, Seven following with Isabel. "Can we get a dog?" Luke mumbled, obviously not as deeply asleep as they had thought.

"No." said Seven and Chakotay in unison. Thankfully he was too tired to argue and he and his sister were put to bed without incident.

The couple returned to the couch and settled into each other's arms. "How was your day?" Seven asked.

"Well, it was hectic as always. That swing set was harder to put together than a warp engine and I thought it couldn't get any worse than when I tried to build the cribs…" Chakotay both felt and heard Seven swallow hard. "What?"

She freed herself from his arms and sighed, "You're going to have to build another crib…"

He stared at her, "You're…you're pregnant?"

Seven couldn't meet his eyes. "I suspected…the Doctor confirmed it today."

"We're going to have another baby! It's wonderful Seven! Finally a surprise…"

Seven looked at him, "They were all a surprise to me!" she exclaimed.

Chakotay backtracked remembering that Seven didn't know he'd seen Luke and Isabel in another timeline. "I know…I know…I just always thought we'd have two but a third one is _great_."

Seven sank back into his arms in relief, "We're going to have three children under four…"

He stroked her hair, "We'll adapt darling, we always have." She nodded into his chest. Chakotay marvelled at it all, because of time travel he had it all, the love of his life, their children and a third one on the way. Was it fate that he had been taken and then the Admiral had decided to come back? "Seven, do you believe in fate?"

She turned her head up to look at him. "Predetermination? There is not the evidence to prove or disprove the theory."

"But do you believe?"

She kissed him softly, "Does it matter?"

"No…" he whispered as he deepened the kiss. May fate never have to intervene with them again.

_**The End**_

**A/n: Thanks to: SweetDeath04, DestinChild, MidnightVampireCharlotte, Rono777, EMcKinney, juliaw, jordikov, AmaryllisBird, St4wberries and Cream, h3llfrz, Frodanerin, RawenclawBabe, The Ninja Elle, Saissa, JustDeadStarsForDeadEyes, lizzy74656 and everyone else who read, reviewed and story alerted! Please review since the story is finished.**


End file.
